Opposition: High Prices PreventableBy Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
08 April 2008
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Monday one factor in the high price of rice was local middlemen who buy unhusked rice for cheap, process it, and sell it back at a higher rate.
The high mark-up on processed rice was too much to ask most consumers and farmers, he said, and it was only one domestic reason prices have been hurting Cambodians.
"We are all victims," Sam Rainsy said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."
"The rogue businessmen make a huge profit at the expense of farmers and consumers," he said.
The government has faced increasing pressure to curb inflation and last month put a ban on the export of rice and injected subsidized rice into the marketplace.
Sam Rainsy meanwhile held a demonstration of a few hundred people Sunday to protest the rising cost of living.
Sam Rainsy said that middlemen pay only 900 riel for a kilogram of rice, then process it and sell it back on the market for almost 4,000 riel.
He said a reasonable price of rice should be about 1,500 riel.
In the last few months, prices of rice and other foods have gone up across Asia and around the world.
Many governments, including Cambodia, have taken steps to stabilize the price and to ensure enough supply in their countries.
They have temporarily suspended rice exports and have issued government-owned rice to alleviate the problem.
In another measure the Cambodian government last week boosted the wages of garment factory workers by $6.
However, Sam Rainsy said he was not impressed.
That amount was not enough to counter inflation, he said.
"The price of consumer goods has doubled. Therefore, salaries have to double too," he said. "What can you do with six extra dollars? I have met some farmers who told me that their children used to send them money from the cities to help them out. But now, they say they have to send rice to their children in the cities because their children no longer make enough money to support themselves."
Sam Rainsy admitted that food prices increase everywhere in the world. However, he said, in other countries they don't go up as drastically as Cambodia. Also, in other countries, incomes are higher than Cambodia, so people's lives are not affected as badly as in Cambodia.
The key to lower food prices is land distribution, he said.
"In order to lower the price of rice and other foodstuffs, land must be distributed to farmers to increase food production," he said. "When food production is increased, prices will go down. Therefore, we have to give the land back to the people so that they can grow crops."
11 comments:
Yeah right, when we double the employee rate, the next thing you know, the Lao and Burmese get all the jobs, and we end up begging on the street afterward.
Sam Rainsy is trying to destroy Cambodia.
Hey Viet troller/pimp/parasite/plunderer @2:53 AM,
You Viet troller/intruder admitted yourself to be a Viet-born and national here on KI-Media.
You Viet troller/intruder have been dumping tons of trashes here on KI-Media over God knows for how long.
You Viet troller/intruder pretend to be Cambodian/Khmer speaking up for Cambodian/Khmer and giving Cambodian/Khmer a bad name.
You Viet troller/intruder trash everybody here on KI-Media calling Cambodian/Khmer all sort of names to boast, to sabotage and to destroy Cambodian/Khmer for the benefit of you Viet intruder/plunderer....
Now, you Viet trash/troller/intruder/parasite call that a debate?
Does history and now a live example of you Viet trash/troller here on KI-Media tell Cambodian/Khmer anything about the Viet's trustworthiness?
Cambodian/Khmer and the whole world see and know the true colors of you Viet troller/intruder/invader/plunderer/parasite too well already.
In plain and simple English, now, and again what part of you "getting the fuck out of KI-Media" don't you understand huh you fucking Viet troller/intruder/pimp/plunderer?
Let's see you Viet pimp/parasite's tail between your legs and run on home out of KI-Media now!
Go home Viet, go home!
You will hurt the Viet and not hurting us Cambodian/Khmer by hanging around here on KI-Media and having made such a comment.
Go home Viet, go home!
The price of consumer goods has doubled. Therefore, salaries have to double too.
In any democratic world, when the price of consumer goods are doubled, income earners feel the pinch on their pocket and trying their best to stretch their hard earned dollar to meet end day needs. Of course everyone wants and wish to see pay increase in accodrnace to Consumer price index, however they [income earner] have never been rewarded such a demand of the double scenario put forward as mentioned here by Mr. SR due to the fact that no one in the world can do that even if the place and country where Mr. SR once lived. Imagine that pay rise accross the board for every single person in workforce, for instant the 50US$/month jump to 100US/month for the current climate then 3 months down the track another CPI is at it highiest level, what Mr. SR would propose? Double the salary again? If yes, the 100US$/month will be 200US$/month, is there any company in Cambodia right now can afford to the demand put forward? Can assure that those companies might end up telling their worker that "I am sorry, I'll pack and go to another country".
Another scenario. This is about Australian workplace and when the award wage rise happened, they might have 12% pay rise but it is not on the spot in one go. This 12% pay rise is divided into 3 steps over 3 years period which is in hourly rate term an extra 50cents/hr extra [subject to hourly rate].
So they cannot do a thing for the time being, except waiting till the next round of negotiation and that 3 years down the track for another pay rise whilst price of the consumer goods will go up day after day.
To be realistic, yes the government must do something to keep lid on inflation whether through subsidy or low the tax and levy but can't see the government to pressure the private sector to double the wages unless the government wants to loose all the foreign investment in Cambodia then should bow to the double pay increase as suggested by Mr. SR.
2:53AM, I've already asked you to produce some evidences when you made your claimed in previous issues -- you have none! From what I'm guessing, you don't have any positive remarks beside making yourself felt better by pointing a finger on someone else?
You have no ideas what you're saying. You're just pulling your remarks out of the hat! Fart head!
2:53am, you should stay in school pass the 3rd grade. There's still time, go back to HCM!
What evidences?
Medals or other complimentary is good to bestow good peoples. But SRP's members of parliament have good resean not to accept this gift. They are the struggler for the enforcement of law, and the demolition of nepotism/cronyism/favouritism that has cemented strongly inside CPP.
CPP under Hun Sen's leadership is absolutely leading by using patronage and nepotism system.
That why CPP under Hun Sen leadership has no clue and light to bolster the law system in Camboida.
Whenever, Cambodia has no law enforcement, Cambodia as a nation-state is absolutely nonsense. It is only a tribal or feudal state led by a community of gangsters or mafia.
KY
Measurements suggested by Sam Rainsy is acceptable. He has realistic reason to solve the problem of inflation in Cambodia.
Those 5 measurements are the evidence to testify the ability of political leader.
Just pick up the last measurement to distribute land to the people to encourage more farming is enough to strenghten agriculture capacity.
KY
Nope because there is no guarantee that farmer will produce the needed goods. They will just let the land collect dust, and everyone go hungry. It is better to have professorial business people handle that.
Just go home Ah Yuon 8:03am. We don't need your crony advice.
30 yrs of you is far enough.
Bullshit, we haven't scratch the surface yet.
Very funny 11:19am, what a come back. You know with that kind of come back just pack everything and go home back to Hanio.
Please do yourself a favor, just go home.
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